The Senate legislation differs from the House-passed opioid bill, H.R. 6, in that it would not repeal the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion. Also notable: The Senate bill does not align regulations governing confidentiality of substance use disorder treatment records (42 CFR Part 2) with HIPAA standards. Once approved, the Senate legislation must be reconciled with H.R. 6 through conference committee negotiations.

The Senate this week also will vote on S. 2554, which would ban “gag clauses” in pharmacy contracts. The bill would allow pharmacists to tell patients about cheaper alternatives to medications prescribed by their physician.

House Action This Week

This week, the House is scheduled to vote on H.R. 3798, the Save American Workers Act of 2017. The legislation would retroactively suspend the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate, effective 2015 through 2018, and change the definition of a full-time employee, increasing the minimum hours worked from 30 to 40, for the purpose of enforcing the employer mandate. In addition, the legislation would delay the “Cadillac Tax” on high-value health plans for an additional year, until 2023.

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